


Shadows Of Grayskull

by gemsofformenos



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Angst, Eternia, Etheria - Freeform, Family, First Ones Tech, Friendship, Gen, Origin Of He-man, Origin of She Ra, Portals
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-24
Updated: 2021-01-14
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:07:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27698074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gemsofformenos/pseuds/gemsofformenos
Summary: Horde Prime has been defeated and rebuilding of Etheria has started when Adora gets tortured by an nightmare which orders her to Crystal Castle. Obviously the Castle seems to reboot and with this reboot events come to action which will provide a truth which has been hidden in darkness. The Shadow of Grayskull is long...
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 34





	1. A Signal In The Dark

**Author's Note:**

> Okay... where should I start to explain what this story should be. I really enjoyed the She Ra reboot but since I'm a fan of He-man and MotU I've really missed some more explanations around Eternia, Grayskull and the possible ideas around the background with the First Ones and so on. But this was okay to me since the war against the Horde and Horde Prime has been the urgent matter and the focus of the cartoon as more I really have missed some kind of a following season where Adora and the others would try to get behind these questions. And this is where this story should start. I want to create my own background idea for the lore of Grayskull, She Ra, He-man...  
> And this is the reason why I'm only listing this story at the She Ra fandom. I will try to expand the existing one with a version I'd have loved to see in the show as a He-man fan which means it's not really a sort of crossover. I'll take inspiration from the old He-man cartoons, the newer ones from 200x and from an audioplay which was published in Germany back in the 198x but I will merge these ideas with the given hints and backgrounds from the new She Ra cartoon to create something which might fit to this lately crafted universe.
> 
> Another aspect of this little project is that so far I have no clue how big this story will grow. I do have ideas for it but I don't know how much of them will ever make it into the story and unlike any other multi chapter fic I've written so far I do not promise any update schedule. This is kind of a big playground for me where I can just can have fun at creating my own lores and background which might fit to an existing universe.
> 
> To anyone who wants to follow my little ideas which will show up here sooner or later I wish all of you a lot of fun with this story.

_“Adora…”_

_The way Light Hopes voice was vibrating made Adora’s stomach knot and twist. The darkness which was surrounding them was choking her. Light Hope’s vision kept glitching and flickering but there was something thankful in her eyes. A shine of sadness but also gratitude and relief. A faint smile rushed over the lips of the hologram._

_“Thank you…”_

_The vision disappeared in a light and the following darkness swallowed Adora and her desperate scream for her friend._

_She was falling into an endless blackness. Vines and tentacles started to grab at her. These dark tendrils gave no hold to stop her from falling but they tried to squeeze her, choke her, to block her sight, her breath. They started to limit her movements and with them a cold panic crawled up her spine. She tried to scream but the darkness instantly tried to invade her mouth. She felt herself cramping but any struggle seemed to be futile. There was no escape._

_Suddenly her franticly searching eye spotted two red glowing eyes in the darkness. And these eyes let her blood running cold._

_Their look pieced her and she felt it._

_This darkness had its source in these eyes._

_The evil glow got brighter and more tendrils of darkness emerged out of the void. Terror and naked fear got a grip on Adora. She wasn’t falling anymore she was dragged towards this source of evil. Against her better judgment she dared to open her mouth again._

_“For the Honor of Grayskull!”_

_The magic spell tore the way free from her sore throat but pure horror was all which came to her._

_No Power._

_No She Ra._

_The dark red light grew bigger._

_She could see the shapes of a hood covering a… skull._

_Terror took over as the eyes glow got stronger. The skull under the hood started to chuckle. And then a white flash pushed the giant skull into darkness. The tendrils disappeared and Adora fell down on her knees gasping for air. She was panting heavy and her legs gave away as she tried to stand up. She was on a plateau and a warming sun was shining but it was nothing compared to the bright light the person beside Adora was radiating. She winced in panic as a soothing hand touched her face. The light of the person before her was blinding and Adora pinched her eyes but she noticed the wings and the silhouette of the woman before her. There was so much strength and warmth in this touch. It drove away the darkness within her. Tears came to Adora’s eyes and she pressed her hand against the soothing one on her cheek. It couldn’t be…_

_“Queen… Angela?”_

_She couldn’t see the face of her but the Queen seemed to hesitate for a moment until Adora could get a faint view on the mouth of the tall woman. A warm smile was around the lips._

_“He’s coming, Adora. He knows who you are, where you are.”_

_Adora took a panicked look around as the echo of an unholy scream reached the plateau. The light of the woman in front of her flickered for a brief moment and her mouth got worried. Adora noticed that she tried hard to stay calm._

_"_ _Crystal Castle, Adora.”_

_The voice was stressed. It did sound like Queen Angela but at the same time it did not. Adora wasn’t sure. If she only could…_

_Clouds of darkness suddenly covered the sky and the winged person took defense stance. Her look was scanning the clouds nervously._

_"You have to go Adora. Now. For Etheria and Eternia.”_

_Adora jumped up on her feed and was about to take a stance beside the woman._

_"But Queen Angela I don’t understand. Who’s coming? Why are you here? Why…”_

_She got cut off by a hand placed on her shoulder. The woman bowed down to her and Adora had to cover her eyes with her hand before her bright white light._

_"_ _Crystal Castle, Adora. For the Honor and by the Power of Grayskull. Hurry!”_

_The dark clouds suddenly started to shift and a skull made of darkness emerged. The winged person gave Adora a forceful push. She saw the plateau disappearing fast while the shining light of the woman got surrounded by blackness. She was falling again with a desperate scream of the Queen’s name on her lips…_

* * *

Adora’s feral scream made Catra jumping up with rugged hair and shocked hiss. Melog was at their side instantly deep red and hissing as well but he instantly turned blue again and started to rub his head soothingly at Adora. Catra’s girlfriend was pale and bathed in sweat. He breath was way too fast and Catra’s look became deeply worried as she took her girlfriend in her arms. Adora winced again and was about to trash at her still struggling to leave the latest nightmare behind. As soon as she realized that it was Catra she let herself falling in her arms with a teary sigh.

“It’s okay Adora. It was only a nightmare”

Catra carefully started to rub circles on Adora’s back while the blonde girl buried her face in the crook of Catra’s neck.

“It was different this time.”

Catra slowed down her rubbing but didn’t stop. She knew Adora always needed some time to talk about it like she did as well with her own ones. And so time passed by in silence while both were sitting in the bed within Bright Moon Castle. Finally Adora’s breath became more calm but her voice was still a shaken whisper.

“It was the dream about Light Hope again but this time something… someone found me while I was falling in darkness.”

Catra noticed the cold shiver of Adora and she tightened her protective grip around her. The blonde girl lifted her head and faced Catra’s worried look with teary eyes.

“It was like I was caught by an evil force and then…”

Fresh tears appeared in Adora’s eyes and she started sobbing. She pulled Catra closer and Melog also snuggled closer to both.

“…then Queen Angela saved me. She… She told me I should hurry and get to…”

“CRYSTAL CASTLE!!!”

The doors of the room got kicked open and Catra, Melog and Adora nearly fell out of bed with a panicked screech. Also Bow jumped backwards nearly dropping his pad. Catra was the first one who got her breath back.

“Bow, seriously. You cannot just break in here like this. How…”

She was cut off by Bow who was simply rushing towards them showing them the map and the blinking beacon on it on his pad.

“I know Catra and sorry for that but Adora needs to see this. The pad has received a signal from Crystal Caste.”

The color drained from Adora’s face and she ripped the pad out of Bow’s hands to stare at the screen. A clear energy signal was to be seen on it at Crystal Castle and due to the readings the energy level was rising. She nearly dropped the pad and Bow only caught in moments before it would have hit the ground. Catra’s look darkened as she faced the panic in Adora’s eyes.

“Catra… my dream… She told me to go to Crystal Castle. Immediately.

Catra’s eyes jumped wide for a brief moment but then they narrowed and she faced Bow with a serious look.

“When did the energy level of the Castle has started rising.”

Bow shared a worried look between Catra and Adora.

“About ten minutes ago. I already told Glimmer about it and she’s awaiting us in the meeting room.”

Catra felt Adora squeezing her arm. She faced the look of her girlfriend and noticed the deep worries in her eyes. There was a fear in it she has never seen before.

“You don’t think this was a dream Adora?”

Her girlfriend shook her head.

“No. Not with this signal.”

Catra placed her hand on Adora’s and gave her a supportive squeeze while she leaned forward to give her a kiss on her lips. The cat girl got a mischievous smirk on her lips as she leaned back again.

“Then let’s figure out what’s happening.”

She gave Adora a little shove so her girlfriend was pushed back into the sheets. Catra was already up rushing towards the closets to get dressed with a playful chuckle.

“Come on Adora. Last one at meeting has to make breakfast for the other.”

She dodged a pillow which was thrown by Adora and both started a dash towards the closets while Bow left the room with his eyes still focused on his pad.

* * *

A cloaked person walked through the halls of Snake Mountain. The man was on his way to a room he hasn’t entered in ages but things had changed lately. He passed parts of a giant lab and the gloomy light from the monitors were creating threatening shadows. These shadows seem to follow this man and his footsteps and the repetitive clicking of his rod on the floor was the only sound to be heard. He took a short break at a bigger tank filled up with a purple glowing amniotic fluid. An strange looking head was floating within the liquid and wires and cables were liked with it. The dead eyes of the head stared back at the darkness under the purple hood. Life has left this floating head long ago. The man chuckled a bit and continued his walk. He stopped before a blank wall and strong hand formed a magic rune in the air in front of him. With a little push the rune found its place at the wall and a hidden door opened.

The portal room of Snake Mountain. It was a dark and gloomy room not very big with only an onyx pedestal in the middle of it and a stone arc some steps away from it.

The sorcerer waited a moment in front of the doorway.

Months ago the hive mind of Lord Prime has gone crazy. He has intercepted news of an unknown energy source. Soon after these news there has been revolts at occupied planets. And then about a month ago the hive mind has collapsed and with it the last remaining glow in the eyes of the head he has kept in this tank since hundreds of years. After all this endless waiting for this chance it was finally time.

The sorcerer entered the room and stepped to a pedestal in the middle of it. He started to draw forms and circles with his finger on it leaving red glowing lines on it. Dark black flames were leaking from the forming rune on the pedestal and a portal started to build up within the arc. The buzzing energies gave the man an exhilarating thrill.

He drew the last parts of the rune and stomped the end of his rod at the ground of the pedestal.

The portal flickered for a moment and finally stabilized. The man looked at it. He would have smiled with satisfaction but the skull which was hidden under the hood was always smiling in some way.

He had prepared himself for this moment.

He wouldn’t fail this time.

Skeletor’s grip around his rod got firmer.

“Finally.”

* * *

Catra and Adora rushed to the meeting room in Brightmoon Castle. The guards saluted both and gave them free way instantly as both rushed through the big door. The room itself was flooded with a dimmer light than usual and most of it was spent by the exciting smiling hologram of Entrapta’s beaming face which was raising above the meeting table. Bow and Glimmer waved towards the entering women and turned back to the hologram of the Princess. Catra and Adora walked to them and took place beside their friends. Glimmer greeted both with a little smile.

“Glad you two are here. Entrapta and Bow have already a theory about what might happen at Crystal Castle.”

Entrapta’s hologram greeted both with an enthusiastic wave.

“Correct. Well of course we can only speculate due to the energy signals we do receive but so far it seems that the Castle tries to reboot somehow.”

Adora gasped at Entrapta’s quote which elicited a beaming smile of the Princess.

“Exactly! This is so fascinating. Hordak and I haven’t continued to explore the First One’s tech so far since we’re still busy to help the Clones which have stayed behind but he’s sure that someone or something tries to power up the Castle again.”

Adora frowned at this quote and looked at Bow who nodded at this explanation.

“I think Hordak may be right. The energy level is rising to slow for an uncontrolled reaction.”

The Techmaster turned to Adora with a questioning look.

“Adora, could it be possible that Crystal Castle or Light Hope would have some kind of self-repair system?”

Adora’s face fell as Light Hope’s name was mentioned. She faced the table in front of her for a moment staring a hole through the surface of it.

“Beside the fact that I have trained a lot with Light Hope I still barely know anything about Light Hope or the Castle. It could be possible but Horde Prime and the destruction of the old sword have left serious damage.”

Adora felt Catra’s hand taking hers and the supportive squeeze of her girlfriend sent a warm tickle down her spine. She shared a brief thankful look with Catra. The blonde woman noticed Glimmer beside her who was resting her head in her hands with closed eyes deep in her thoughts. Eventually the Queen crossed her arms before her chest and shook her head a bit.

“But why now? Why would such a program wait for so long until starting to get in action? It doesn’t make sense.”

Bow frowned at Glimmer’s quote and was nodding while he returned to check his pad but Hordak’s face approaching beside Entrapta caught everyone’s attention.

“The program might be working since months undetected and we only get the signals from the final phase but there’s another option we should consider as well.”

The friends in the meeting room could see that Hordak seemed to hand something over to Entrapta. Her look was focused on it until her eyes grew bigger in excitement.

“Hordak! That’s awesome! Have you triangulated the signal?”

“Entrapta.”

Glimmer tried to get the Princess’s attention but it seemed her hair was already grabbing for more equipment outside of the visual part of the hologram.

“We need the exact location fast for further researches.”

“Entrapta…”

Bow’s try to get their friend out of her excitement was futile as well. They could see a baffled face of Hordak who tried to keep holding up the equipment which hasty hair was probably stacking on his arms. The tower of tech was rising terribly fast and stated to hide the face of the man with every new piece his lab partner was adding.

“Oh we must take some extra scanners. We need to check the background resonance of the energy signature. Maybe we can find out...”

“Entrapta! Focus!”

Catra’s voice was slightly shrieking but her little outburst made the Princess finally wince with a little yelp. Entrapta scratched her head with her hair and smiled a bit as excuse.

“Sorry I got carried away but this is so exciting!”

Adora’s girlfriend took a deep breath and rubbed her temples for a moment but finally a smile came back to her lips.

“We know. I know. So sorry for screaming but time may be a crucial aspect. So please take a breath and explain us: What kind of signal are you talking about?”

The beaming smile returned to Entrapta’s face and the Princess started to explain the situation very slowly.

“My scanners ___ Have received ___ An energy signal ___ Four hours ago. ___ It seems to share features ___ similar ___ to the signature ___ I know from the portal ___ I have worked with ___ at the Fright Zone.”

A dead silence hung in the meeting room and the friends stared with open mouth at Entrapta’s hologram. The smile on the Princess’s face grew wider.

“I see all of you get it why I’m so excited. Someone has opened a portal to Etheria four hours ago.”

Adora slammed her fists at the table which made all of them turning to the woman. She looked stressed and deeply worried.

“Where?”

Adora’s voice was trembling. She ignored the worried looks of Glimmer and the others and focused her eyes on the hologram of Entrapta. Her friend seemed to check her data again.

“A lot of equipment I have once used to track such signals is still damaged or destroyed so we haven’t received a clear signal nor a triangulation but it must be somewhere within the Whispering Woods.”

Adora bit her lip at the answer and closed her eyes for a moment. Her voice fell down to a darker note.

“Then we need to split up. Bow and Catra you two will check the Castle. Me and Glimmer will meet Entrapta to check the exact location where this portal has been opened. We will…”

“No.”

Glimmer’s voice was soft but determent. It was a voice full of concern but there was this certain note within she has earned as the young Queen she was. Her eyes kept scanning Adora’s shocked anger with slight confusion but it didn’t let her back down. The Queen took the hand of her friend and faced Adora’s burning eyes.

“The Castle is our prior object Adora. We have to investigate the situation there first. No matter what has caused the assumed reboot we have no idea what Light Hope, the Castle or the remaining of the Heart can do. Powering up the Castle or Light Hope could be a great danger for Etheria. We have to take care of this problem first.”

Adora’s face became a bitter one and it doubled the confusion on Glimmer’s face.

“But we must know who came through the portal. Maybe this person…”

The blonde woman was cut off by Catra’s hand resting on her shoulder.

“Sparkles is right Adora and you know that. We have to check the Castle first and we’ll need She Ra to get access to the systems.”

Adora turned to Catra and noticed the shared pain and sadness in her eyes. The voice of the woman fell lower.

“I know what you’re hoping. I… I do so as well but, she said you should go to Crystal Castle. Immediately.”

Glimmer raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“Who said you should go to Crystal Castle.”

Adora felt a heatwave crawling down her spine. She turned back to face Bow’s and Glimmer’s confused looks.

“Queen Angela. I hope it might be her who came through this portal.”

The jaw of the Techmaster dropped instantly and Glimmer’s gasp filled the meeting room. Tears started to glitter in the young Queen’s eyes. She tried to vocalize a question but failed to do so in her shock and hope. Adora nodded with a bitter smile while tears came to her eyes as well.

“I had a nightmare just before Bow entered the room. The Queen… your mom saved me within this nightmare and has said I should go to Crystal Castle.”

Glimmer fell back at her chair while tears were streaming down her cheeks. Adora made a step towards her and took her hands.

“Glimmer I don’t know how but what if she only could get in contact with me because she has managed to return somehow? Within my dream she has been in deep distress. What if she needs our help? What if…?”

Glimmer’s eyes grew wider and wider at Adora’s words and she sobbed heavy but shook her head after wiping her eyes.

“No. Mom has always put the fates of others before her own. She has ordered you to Crystal Castle and that’s where we’ll heading Adora.”

Her friend’s eyes widened in shock and she was about to protest but got pulled into a hug by Glimmer.

“Adora. We don’t help my mom when we put the planet and all these lives at risk. We take care of the Castle first, then we can check the signal of the portal.”

Entrapta cleaning her throat made all of them turning back to the meeting table. All of them had forgotten that the transmission was still online.

“Well as much as I’d like to see the Castle from the inside but Hordak and I could search for the place where the portal has opened and all of you can check and secure the Castle. In case the portal and the reboot would be linked it might be useful to get information about who has come through it.”

Glimmer started to smile wide at Entrapta but Bow shook his head.

“But we’ll need you Entrapta. No one knows more about the First One’s Tech than you. If we need to fix…”

Entrapta blushed a bit with a cheerful laughter.

“You know a lot about the tech as well, probably more about the Castle than I do so far. Beside the Castle will react at She Ra. Probably. So with you and She Ra I’m sure you can handle any problems you might face. And if not there’s still a chance that Glimmer could teleport me to you for help. Or in reverse if it would really be Queen Angela.”

Bow was about to argue again but Catra cut them off.

“Entrapta, that’s a great idea.”

The warrior turned to her girlfriend and the Queen with a warm smile.

“Adora. You know Glimmer is right. The Castle comes first. And with Entrapta’s idea we can tackle both problems at the same time.”

Her eyes wandered to Glimmer.

“Would you agree, Queen Glimmer?”

A thankful smile came to the young Queen’s face and she nodded until she wiped her eyes dry and corrected her robe.

“I do agree. Princess Entrapta please try to track down the signal of the portal and send us any information you’ll get about where this portal was opened and if there would be any sign who has come through it. The rest of us will move to Crystal Castle to investigate the reasons for the energy signals there.”

Entrapta sent them a cheerful okay and ended the transmission. The lights in the meeting room powered up again and the friends shared some supportive looks with each other. Glimmer placed a hand on Adora’s shoulder. The face of the blonde woman showed bitterness and frustration.

“Don’t worry Adora. If my mom has really managed to escape with this portal then I’ve no doubt that Entrapta will find her.”

The blonde woman wiped her eyes as well and finally a determent smile found its way to her lips. She nodded at Glimmer.

“You’re right Glimmer. Let’s go.”


	2. Encounter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adora and her friends entering Crystal Castle to stop the reboot. Unfortunately they're not alone...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay wow. I really haven't expected so many views at the first day but that's really a wonderful surprise to me. I wish all of you a lot of fun with this second chapter.

Glimmer teleported Catra, Melog, Bow and Adora towards Crystal Castle. The Castle was lying quiet and peaceful within the clearing on first sight. There was no sign that anyone or anything would have entered the structure since Adora has left it after taking the stored energy of the Heart. But Bow’s pad told them a different story. The energy level of the Castle was definitely rising. The Techmaster frowned as he checked the data.

“It seems that the mainframe is still offline but the subsystems and some basic functions are back online.”

The group reached the main gate which would lead them down within the guts of the Castle. The path was closed and it showed no reactions as they got in contact with the walls. Adora let her fingertips sliding along the fine carvings within the crystal.

“So you think the opening system might be working again?”

Bow only shrugged shoulders at Glimmer’s question but Catra groaned a little annoyed.

“I could knock at the door but I’m in doubt it would help. So there’s only one way to find it out. Adora? May you be so kind?”

The blonde woman turned to Catra with a warm smile which was quoted by an amused smirk of the cat girl. Adora’s hand remained at the surface of the crystal walls.

“Eternia.”

The lines started to glow in the colors of the rainbow for a brief moment and the trapdoor opened as smoothly as ever leading a path down into the darkness of Castle. Adora took a deep breath until she turned to their friends with a serious face.

“We need to be careful. Last time the Castle was rebooting one of the first systems which were working has been the security protocols.”

Bow released a little sigh.

“So… more spiders I guess?”

Catra padded his shoulder with a smirk.

“Probably.”

But her face fell at her girlfriend’s worried look. She hugged her own shoulders for a moment and Melog started to rub himself at her leg with a sad purr.

“But spiders aren’t the worst.”

Catra felt arms around her and she smiled thankful as her eyes met Adora’s blue glowing ones. The woman was smiling so warm at her.

“We’ll handle this Catra. Nothing bad can happen as long as we are together.”

The cat girl’s smile stayed for some moments until she sticked her tongue out with a wink.

“Lucky you Adora that I’m always around to save your butt.”

The warm snicker from her girlfriend was gifting Catra a pleasant warmth in her tummy as she let the tip of her tail brushing the warrior’s nose at passing her to enter the dark passage.

* * *

The darkness and the quiet within the corridors were thick and heavy. The group was wandering through the corridors since a while and only Glimmer’s light was spending some comfort but the air within the guts of the Castle was cold. The breath of the friends was condensing within the chilly atmosphere. The whole place felt dead and abandoned and it seemed that the cold was getting worse with every step they got closes to the center hall of the structure. The sounds of the footsteps of the group echoed from the crystal walls and seemed to ring in everyone’s ears.

“It’s no imagination, it’s getting colder, isn’t it?”

Glimmer’s was starting to shiver slightly and Bow got a bit closer to her to keep her warmer. He pointed with his bow at the wall and shook his head. Little ice blooms were covering the surface.

“No Glimmer. The temperature has dropped several degrees since we’ve entered the building.”

He turned to Adora and Catra who were one step behind Glimmer and Bow.

“Do you think this is a new defense mechanism?”

The blonde warrior frowned for a moment. She has been really quiet since the group has entered the Castle.

“It could be. Light Hope was able to manipulate the conditions of the environment in many ways. We have no idea how badly the Castle is damaged so maybe the security systems aren’t working with full efficiency.”

Catra huffed annoyed and pulled her arms around her shoulders with a little shudder.

“Great. So since this place has no spiders left it has chosen to freeze us to death instead.”

Adora’s face darkened a bit and she started to walk a little faster passing Glimmer and Bow to take the lead.

“Hopefully we’ll find out soon what’s happening here. The main hall lies behind this corner we only…”

Catra was suddenly at her side covering her mouth with her hand. The ears of the cat girl were flickering while she focused on something down the corridor. She turned to their friends with a worried face and her voice fell down to a whisper.

“We’re not alone down here.”

The group got carefully closer to the corner and Adora peeked around it. The corridor was leading straight down to the main hall and she could recognize a dim white light within which seemed to flicker once and a while.

“There’s a light within the main hall.”

The friends shared some determent looks. All of them took a firm grip at their weapons while Melog got close to them to use his magic to hide the team before anyone who might be waiting within the hall. They moved on carefully and soon they could all hear sounds of someone rummaging with metal objects. And they heard footsteps within the hall. Obviously someone was measuring the length of the hall over and over again.

“…kes you so long, father? It’s getting colder and colder.”

The female voice came from the hall and was trembling because of the cold. A warm deep chuckle was the answer. The amusement of the second person stopped the footsteps.

“Sorry but the mainframe of the castle is badly damaged. I have fixed the vital parts here to power up the rescue system but still I have no idea how much we have to fix to get it back to full operation. We need to wait until the replacements for the main control program are installed and rebooted.”

An annoyed groan was the instant quote at the man’s explanation which was causing another amused chuckle. The pacing footsteps returned and so the working sounds. Adora and the others shared some worried looks. The blonde woman frowned deep with her voice reduced to a dark whisper.

“It seems they’re already starting to reboot Light Hope. We have to expect that she’ll still try to reactivate the Heart or try anything to repair and reactivate it.”

Bow took a worried look towards the end of the corridor a few steps ahead.

“Maybe they have no idea about Light Hope’s old program.”

Catra rolled her eyes instantly.

“Bow it doesn’t matter if they’re aware of the danger or not. They must not reboot the system.”

The archer glared at her with an angry hissing voice.

“I know. All I’m trying to say is that whoever we’ll find in this hall might not know about the danger and maybe doesn’t plan to bring harm to us or the planet. So we should keep this in mind before someone gets hurt, shouldn’t we?”

All eyes wandered back to Adora. Catra’s girlfriend faced the questioning eyes and got down on her knees followed by the other.

“Alright. Bow and I will move forward to investigate the situation. We have to know what’s going on within the hall. As soon as this is checked Glimmer and Catra will teleport into the hall to create confusion and distraction. Keep them busy whoever might be there but try to avoid anything serious if possible. Bow and I will use the moment of surprise to stop the Castle from rebooting. Any talking can be done later.”

All nodded in agreement and Bow and Adora crawled forward covered by Melog. They reached the end of the corridor and took a careful look at the main hall. The destruction was heavy. Lots of the crystal pillars were cracked or shattered and the debris were scattered all over the floor. Bow gave Adora a little nudge and pointed at the big pedestal at the back of the hall. The wall with the image of She Ra had several big cracks but it wasn’t the damage which has caught the Techmaster’s attention. A young woman was walking between some of the bigger chunks. She was passing some big working lights from time to time which were spending light within the darkness. The woman’s red-brown hair was formed to a long pony tail which was reaching down to the middle of her back. Her white fighting suit was enhanced with breast and arm plates and also the boots seem to have the same metal covers which were reaching up to her knees. She was slightly rubbing her shoulders from time to time and her frustrated look kept wandering through the hall.

Adora spotted a second person at a big terminal. The person was a tall man and it looked like he was busy with some sort of control panels not unlike the ones Entrapta has used to get access to the First One’s tech. It seemed the strangers have opened parts of the ground and walls. Cables and tubes were linked with the openings and the installed terminal and the person seemed to be busy to study reports of the Castle’s energy level and status at the holograms which were showing up above the installed control unit. Unlike the woman this man was wearing a heavy battle armor colored in dark green. Heavy armor plates in a dark orange were covering his back and chest, his left arm and leg up to his knee.

Adora pointed at the terminal.

“We must get access to this terminal to stop the reboot.”

Her voice was barely a whisper but the man suddenly stopped working at the terminal and his observant eyes started to scan the hall. The woman also stopped and searched for any sign of an intruder. Neither Adora nor Bow dared to breath. The blonde woman could hear her heart beating loud and fast. Seconds passed and finally the man returned to his work. Adora turned back to signal Catra and Glimmer to get ready and the number of persons within the hall when she got tackled into the main hall by Bow with a warning scream. The flash grenade detonated almost at the same time. Bow shielded her from the ear-splitting sound and the flashlight and considering how fast he got his bow ready he has also covered his eyes and ears still both were a little groggy as the woman charged them with a long combat staff. She was about to place a hard hit at Bow when Adora managed to block the strike with her own one, pushing the woman back. The agile fighter did a backflip and darted herself forward instantly, dodging Adora’s next strike easily and striking the Techmaster’s bow out of his hands with a skilled move. He barely managed to avoid a blow against his head and rolled away only to get nearly hit by an blast of energy. The man at the terminal was holding a big mace. Static energy was blistering and cracking around the head of the weapon and he pointed at Adora who has started to circle the woman to get into a better striking position. Bow was about to scream a warning as he noticed the sparkle beside the man. Glimmer and Catra approached beside him and Catra placed hard strikes at his shoulder but all what happened was a surprised gasp from the woman as her hands missed the target. Bow had no idea how her opponent has anticipated the blow but he rolled aside and so Catra’s claws were only cutting through air.

“Dad!”

The woman’s scream caught the attention of the man. She had risked a brief look but was now struggling with Adora again, who has instantly used this opening to force her towards a corner.

“Bow! The terminal!”

Glimmer’s shout made the young man move and he sprinted towards the pedestal. The Queen kept using her magic to teleport from one spot to another to throw her magic at the man. She already tried to teleport behind the man but he dodge the blow of her rod while blocking another hard strike of Catra. The cat girl hissed in shock and surprise as her claws weren’t able to pierce the armor. Her instincts luckily were faster than her surprise as the mace found its way to the ground with a hard blow. A static buzzing and a shriek from Glimmer made Adora and Bow scream her name. The blow has created a brief field of energy and Glimmer fell to the ground unconscious but Catra’s reflexes has brought her out of range of this stunning energy field. She was above the man until he could get the weapon up again and this time her claws found a weak part of his armor at a joint. He hissed in pain as she managed to cut off a big chunk of the armor.

Meanwhile Bow has made his way to the terminal. He was only a few steps away as he got punched back by an energy field which was surrounding the terminal. His eyes searched helpless for the source of the field while he was shouting over the battle noises.

“Adora! They have secured the terminal! I cannot shut it down!”

“The cables! Just rip them out!”

Catra was having troubles as well but nevertheless she has been the first to throw in this radical suggestion. The man was quiet faster than she had anticipated and obviously skilled at fighting more agile enemies. This fight had to be put to an end soon.

“No! The feedback would overload the energy system! The castle would blow up within seconds!”

The shock and worry in the voice of the man made Catra frown. She wasn’t sure if he was right or not and obviously Adora as well cause her huffed voice from the other side of the hall sounded unsure.

“Bow! Is that true?”

The Techmaster checked the cables in a haste and his face became slightly panicked.

“No…! Yes…! I don’t know! It could be!”

“Seems like your friend should listen at my dad. He obviously knows more about this tech than he does.”

The smug smirk on the red-haired woman’s face was tickling Adora’s anger. She noticed the shown rebooting progress at the hologram and swallowed hard.

“I’m in doubt about that. You have no idea what you’re doing here otherwise you wouldn’t try to reboot Light Hope. Last time she has tried to destroy us all and countless worlds.”

Adora’s opponent only released a sarcastic huff but the man’s eyes jumped wide.

“Light Hope…? What do you know about her? What… ARGH!”

Catra took advantage of her opponent’s surprise and managed to place a hard blow at his head. His helmet crackled under her claws and he got down to his knees.

“DAD!!!”

His daughter let go of her combat rod instantly and sprinted at her father’s side. He was pressing his hand at a bleeding cut on his right cheek. Father and daughter got surrounded by Adora and Catra. Bow was at Glimmer’s side who slowly came back to conscious. Adora pointed at them with her weapon. The man watched at Adora in confusion.

“You do know Light Hope? Who are you?”

Adora nodded. She stretched out her arm and her sword approached in her hand. The eyes of the man and the woman jumped wide open as she lifted the sword towards the ceiling.

“For the Honor of Grayskull!”

Both shielded their faces before the light and they stared in awe and confusion at the tall warrior who was now standing before them. She Ra pointed with her sword at the terminal.

“Light Hope was about to activate a weapon to destroy countless worlds. She must not be rebooted. So deactivate the shield or I’ll rip out any cable and tube to stop it no matter if this place will explode or not.”

The man and his daughter shared a shocked look. The woman’s voice was trembling a bit as her questioning eyes rested on Adora’s blue ones.

“…She Ra…?”

A sudden blast of energy punched the sword out of She Ra’s hands. She was about to spin around but a massive green cat with red battle armor landed on her chest at the same moment pinning her down in a deadly lock. A giant blonde warrior was standing at the doorway of another corridor pointing with a massive sword at them. The furry big boots, the loincloth of heavy leather and fur and the massive breast plate still left huge parts of his arms and legs uncovered which showed massive muscles. His grim face showed determination.

“No you won’t.”

She Ra was about to stand up but a threatening roar and an increasing pressure on her chest kept her down. Catra tried to jump forward but the ears of the green cat on She Ra’s chest turned into her direction and she could see the strong claws of the animal flexing threatening close at her girlfriends bare skin so she remained on spot with an angry hiss. Suddenly the lights within the hall got activated and a glitching hologram popped up.

“Main Frame online… Memory data base damaged… Access to Emergency Rescue System successful. Rebooting basic protocols… … … Warning! Compromised Files detected and isolated. Starting termination… … termination failed. Reboot safe memory cluster… Mara.”

The hologram stabilized and Light Hope turned to the tall warrior.

“Second administrator detected. Welcome at Crystal Castle… He-man.”


	3. Introductions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay... after a longer break because of of hard and dark times within my family I do have a new chapter ready today. To all the He-man fans who might reading this one this chapter will have a major changing compared to the known cartoons. Teela does know who He-man is. So far I do plan to mention at some point in the future since when and why so I do skip a brief explanaition here for now. In case this wouldn't make it into the story then I'll give a little background for it at some point within the notes.  
> I wish all of you a lot of fun with this new chapter

She Ra and her friends stared in total shock and confusion at Light Hope and He-man who has now entered the main hall. The warrior faced the hologram with a serious look.

“Is she’s talking the truth? Did she stopped you from destroying countless worlds? The Sorceress told us your basic ethic protocols would never allow such actions.”

Light Hope’s look became painful for a moment and her hologram flickered for a moment. She turned to She Ra who was staring at her in shock. Finally the Light Hope lowered her head.

“My protocols had been corrupted over a thousand years ago. A virus and corrupted orders have overwritten my basic routines as the Heart of Etheria Project has been uploaded. I was only able to protect my emergency recovery protocol and a safe memory cluster.”

He-man frowned at the words of the Hologram.

“The Heart of Etheria Project?”

“A big installation to collect and to store the magic energies of the planet to unleash them as a weapon to destroy worlds the First Ones have addressed as hostile against them.”

Bow’s voice was dark and he hugged a still groggy Glimmer a bit tighter as a shudder rushed down her spine. Light Hope moved towards She Ra ignoring the warning grumble of the big cat. He-man only nodded at the creature and the animal instantly let go of She Ra and moved beside him. The Hologram’s face looked painful.

“Due to my memory cluster the project was started to use Etheria’s magic to crush all the worlds Horde Prime was controlling with one strike. The virus should assure that I would do anything necessary to activate the Heart. The planet and countless worlds throughout the galaxy would have been destroyed but Adora….”

Light Hope’s hologram glitched again and the lights within the hall started to flicker.

“I can’t get access to huge parts of my memories due to the damage but… Adora… She has been my friend. I remember she saved me.”

He-man got closer to She Ra and Light Hope. He has kept pointing his sword at the tall woman all the time. She Ra didn’t took notice of him. Her eyes were filled with tears and she kept looking at the sad face of Light Hope. The Hologram glitched again but finally stabilized. She turned to He-man with a determent voice.

“I might can give a more detailed report when I can get access to my remaining data crystals but…”

She turned back to She Ra who has released a warning gasp.

“But I do trust Adora. Her information must be correct. And in conclusion due to the severeness of the malfunction of my systems I cannot recommend to reestablish a connection to my memory data files. It might contain more corrupted files.”

A sad smile approached on Light Hope’s face.

“I recommend to deactivate the Castle permanently and to destroy the remaining files.”

Tears finally streamed down She Ra’s face. She was shaking her head in denial.

“No… I don’t want to give up on you Light Hope.”

The Hologram smiled on at She Ra. The warrior was on her feet instantly and tried to grab an arm of the hologram but her hand only passed through her. He-man has taken down his sword and shared a worried look with the bleeding man and his daughter a few steps aside. The man touched a part of his armor and the energy shield around the terminal disappeared. He walked over to the console under the pensive observation of Catra and started to check the reported data which were coming in.

“It’s okay Adora.”

Light Hope’s hologram got glitchier again and He-man turned to the man at the console.

“Duncan…?”

The man kept checking the signals and started to work franticly at the terminal.

“Light Hope starts to shut the Castle down again. I’m not sure if I can stop her.”

She Ra’s look got more panicked.

“No Light Hope! Not again! We can fix you! We can get the virus out of your system if it should still be in there! Don’t give up! Mara wouldn’t have wanted you to give up!”

Light Hope’s eyes jumped wide.

“Mara…? I… don’t remember…”

She Ra’s face was shocked for a moment but finally her look became determent.

“Mara was your friend and so am I. And I will never ever give up on my friends.”

She Ra walked through Light Hope’s hologram towards the console. Her whole body started to glow in a bright light and also Glimmer. He-man, Duncan and his daughter stared at her and at each other with questioning looks. The red-haired woman readied herself to defend her father as She Ra got closer but He-man shook his head and so she gave the shining tall woman a free way. The lights within the hall got weaker but the shine of She Ra seemed to grow stronger and brighter. She reached the wounded man who was blocking the way to the console and placed a hand on his shoulder carefully. A gasp escaped him and his daughter as the wound on his face disappeared. Duncan touched his fresh healed cheek with trembling hands as She Ra passed him to reach the console. Light Hope’s hologram kept flickering while her stoic look was resting on She Ra. The tall woman took a breath and placed her hand on the terminal... and the glow started to spread out from the console through the wires and tubes filling the hall of the castle and floating further throughout the corridors. She Ra felt the eyes of everyone resting on her.

“Whoever has done this to you Light Hope. They have… miscalculated.”

The light which was emerging from She Ra got stronger and stronger and finally a bright white was flooding the hall which was blinding everyone. As it finally got weaker it was Adora who was laying beside the terminal. Catra was at her girlfriend’s side instantly and the woman smiled warm as the cat girl cradled her upper body in her arms. Light Hope approached at her side out of nowhere. Catra rugged her hair with a hiss but a soothing hand of her girlfriend made her tension fade a bit. Light Hope’s hologram was stable.

“You’ve terminated the corrupted files. My sensors are limited due to the damages but I noticed the energy She Ra has used to purge the virus has floated the whole castle.”

Duncan walked to the group at the terminal and checked the recordings with a baffled face.

“Light Hope is right He-man. The energy has flooded the whole castle for a moment. I don’t know how but the virus data Light Hope has isolated are gone.”

Adora got back on her feet with Catra’s help and her face became serious again. She faced He-man’s observant eyes with her blue ones.

“I think it’s time for some answers. Who are you and what are you doing here at Crystal Castle?”

The blonde man withstood Adora’s piercing look for a moment and finally a warm smile came to his lips. He placed his hand on his chest and his voice was almost a bit shy now.

“I do agree and since our first impression of each other hasn’t been the best I suggest we should all sit down so we can catch up on each other’s stories cause we have some questions as well.”

He-man’s eyes wandered to the red-haired woman and Duncan. He noticed the suspicious look of the young woman but also the encouraging nod of her father.

“And since we seem to be the intruders here I’d like to introduce us to you. The young fierce fighter here is Teela and this is Man-at-Arms our Techmaster.”

The young woman huffed a bit and crossed her arms before her chest but the man bowed a bit with a smile.

“Duncan is fine for me.”

A little smile rushed over He-man’s face and he turned back to Adora.

“And I am He-man and this is Battle Cat my comrade.”

Adora’s eyes narrowed a bit. He-man seemed to expect that his introduction would already has said enough. The woman kept up her piercing look on him.

“Yes but who _are_ you? And who is He-man? We never heard of He-man here on Etheria but Light Hope has called you administrator. How are you linked with all of this?”

He-man’s face got worried a bit but Light Hope instantly spoke up.

“He-man. Legendary warrior. Bearing the Sword of Power. Hero of Eternia.”

A collective gasp was the reaction of Adora and her friends. The blonde woman took a closer look at the sword in He-man’s hands. It was clearly First One’s tech and shared some features with the broken one she has former used but it was even bigger and more massive.

“Eternia… You’re all from… Eternia?”

He-man nodded in confusion.

“Yes we are. Wait none of you knows anything about Eternia? But how is this possible? The whole tech, the Castle, the Sword of Protection all of this comes from Eternia. The inscriptions are all written in the old language.”

Adora’s face fell a bit.

“Times have been rough here since… well a lot has happened the past thousand years or so. And the plans of the First Ones have nearly destroyed Etheria. I guess there wasn’t much motivation to keep the memory and knowledge alive of people who have nearly brought doom to this world.”

A little shadow rushed over He-man’s face and the man placed his hand on Adora’s shoulder. The supportive squeeze made her look up in confusion. There was an understanding in his eyes which was gifting her a strange feeling of comfort.

“I feel that we’ll have a lot to learn from each other and trust can be the only way to show how much has changed within a thousand years.”

He-man took a deep breath and the transformation started instantly. He grew much smaller and got far less bulky until he was only half a head taller than Adora. But his blue eyes remained warm and comforting. Also his cat grew smaller and the battle armor and saddle disappeared.

“You asked me who I am.”

The blonde man bowed a bit before Adora.

“I’m Adam. It is a pleasure to meet you, Adora.”

Adora scanned the young man from head to toe with open confusion. The transformation has changed the man so much. Not only he has lost a lot height but also the massive muscles have disappeared. Adam still looked well trained but much more than an agile athlete than the bulky tower of muscles He-man has been. He did seem to be her age maybe a little younger it was hard to tell. He was wearing a dark red tunic with a white shirt below and gray trousers. His short blonde hair was rugged a bit but quite handsome. Catra cleaning her throat ripped her out of her confusion and she turned to her girlfriend who has helped up Glimmer and was now on her way to Adora. The blonde woman corrected her outfit a bit hasty.

“Oh yes,… nice to meet you… I guess. Well these are some of my friends. This is Bow and Glimmer…” Both waved her hands to Adam, Duncan and Teela who greeted back with a nod “…and this is Catra.”

The cat girl has reached Adora and pressed her forehead against Adora’s temple eyeing Adam with glowing eyes. The warm smile which found its way to the young man’s face let her lift an eyebrow but she got distracted as she noticed Melog and the now smaller green cat with yellow stripes sniffing at each other with open interest. Adora pulled Catra’s head at hers with one hand for a moment until she noticed Melog as well. She chuckled a bit and pointed at the cat.

“Well and this is Melog and…”

Bow’s pad suddenly started to make noises and everyone turned to him instantly. The man blushed a bit for a moment and mouthed a sorry while he was activating the com.

“Entrapta could you just…”

He was cut off by an excited and joyful Princess at the com.

“Oh Bow it’s amazing. Hordak and I have been able to find the location of the portal and it seems that a massive object must have passed the portal. We’ve found some tracks which seem to head directly to Crystal Castle. Whatever has come through the portal might be right where you are.”

Bow took a look at Teela, Duncan and Adam and turned the pad towards them.

“Yes Entrapta. We found some guests. They are from Eternia.”

A long and high pitched screech of excitement was the only reaction and Bow faced the pad again with a worried look.

“Entrapta…?”

“This! Is! Amaaaazing!!! I have so many questions! But we aren’t finished here we…”

The purple haired Princess gut cut off by Glimmer.

“Entrapta. Pleace come down and stay where you are. We’ll meet you there soon. I have the feeling these people might be our guests for some time.”

Entrapta’s eyes glowed in excitement for a moment until she saluted with her hair.

“Understood Queen Glimmer. Hordak and I will finish our researches here. This is so exciting… Princess Entrapta out.”

Duncan and Teela were staring at the young Queen with a little shock and also Adam showed open surprise but it was he who finally found his breath first. The whole posture of him changed suddenly and his face got very formal and serious. The man walked over and bowed deep before Glimmer while getting on his knees.

“My apologize for lacking manners your Highness. We had no idea. Prince Adam of Eternia at your service.”

Glimmer and the others released a gasp of surprise as they noticed Duncan and Teela getting on their knees as well. Glimmer shared some baffled looks with Catra and Adora but then she offered Adam a hand to help him up on his feet.

“Well due to the circumstances I think we’re already pass the formalities. At least until we’ve reached Bright Moon. I think we’ve a lot to discuss and this may last longer than just a few hours.”

Adam took her hand with a warm smile and got up which elicited a little chuckle form Glimmer.

“And a warmer place and some food will help as well to stomach some long talks I guess.”

A little shudder came to the Queen again. The temperature was still very low and it was now that everyone noticed the cold crawling into their bones. Light Hope opened a projection of a screen in front of her.

“I am sorry but the Castle is only twelve percent operational. I have no control about the temperature at the moment.”

Duncan laughed a bit and walked over to a big cargo box beside the terminal.

“Well the repairs of the castle will probably take some time but with the main frame online I think I can already install this little upgrade within half an hour.”

He pulled out a little hologram emitter and walked over to Adora to hand her the little object with a smile. The blonde woman stared at it in confusion

“Light Hope might have very little access to her memory files right now still I think she might be a help to explain the situation to each other. This is part of a transmitting unit I planned to install so He-man could have talked to Light Hope any time but I think you should have it instead.”

Duncan was smiling warm at Adora as he noticed the little glitter in the corner of her eyes and he padded her shoulder twice before he turned to Bow.

“I think I’ll stay here at the Castle. There’s still so much work to do to get the basic functions working again but with a little help things would be a lot easier. Do you want to join me here? I can bring you home to Bright Moon, right, with the Wind Raider when the work is done.”

Bow’s eyes jumped wide in surprise and he was about to answer when Teela interrupted him.

“Dad you cannot stay behind here with these strangers. We barely know them and…”

An amused chuckle made the warrior turn to Catra. The anger in Teela’s eyes about the amusement of the woman was barely hidden.

“Well you are the strangers on this planet and we can throw in the same arguments about you but…”

Catra smiles smug at Teela while she pulled Adora at her side.

“…since Adora is willing to give you some credit I think it would be just fair to give us some as well.”

It was Bow who placed himself between Teela and Catra who have started to glare at each other and he turned to Duncan’s daughter with a little smile.

“I’m sure we had enough fighting for this night. I think we agreed that none of us wanted to harm the other and that none of us plans to destroy half of the universe for now so yes I’d love to help. The rest can return to Bright Moon.”

Teela kept her eyes locked with Catra and ignored Bow until Adam placed a hand on her shoulder. The woman turned to him and finally her face softened at the warm smile of the young prince. Adam chuckled and hugged her but Teela only muttered some words and started to walk over to one of the cargo boxes to fetch up some of her stuff. Adam turned to Catra and Adora who had observed the scene with interest and he scratched his head with another chuckle.

“Don’t take her words too personal. She’s captain of the Royal Guards, the youngest ever in the history of Eternia. Being suspicious and worried is part of her job and she wouldn’t be captain now if she would brush aside this way of thinking too easily. It has saved my life and the life of my friends more than once.”

Adora nodded at Adam with a smile while Glimmer hugged Bow for a goodbye. The Queen walked towards Catra, Adora, Adam and Teela who still looked a bit grumpy.

“Well if all of you are ready then I’ll teleport us to Bright Moon.”

Adam noticed the worried look of Teela and sighed a bit.

“Your Majesty. We do have a vehicle which could transport us as well. It wouldn’t be as fast as a teleportation of cause but…”

Adora chuckled instantly and turned to Glimmer.

“I bet Entrapta would love to see this vehicle and we’ve promised to pick up her and Hordak. And it would give both more time to collect their data.”

Glimmer rolled the idea in her mind for some time but finally nodded in approval. Adam bowed a bit and whistled short.

“Cringer, time to leave.”

The big cat approached behind some rests of a pillar and with a few elegant jumps he was at Adam’s side. Melog suddenly appeared beside Catra as well. Adam noticed the surprised but amused look of Adora. The blonde woman raised an eyebrow.

“…Cringer…?”

Adam stroke the big cat behind his ears and the animal rubbed his head at the man’s legs.

“A fitting name for my fearless friend.”

The cat looked at him in disapproval which was causing a snicker from Adam and Teela as well but the red-haired woman composed herself quickly. She took a deep breath and looked worried at her father and Bow who have started to work at the Castle again. She turned back to Adam with a serious face.

“What about Orko?”

Adam chuckled a bit and placed a soothing hand on Teela’s shoulder. He ignored the questioning looks of the others.

“Let them have some fun exploring the woods. Duncan will brief them when they returns and they can find us easily.”

Finally Adam turned to Glimmer with a smirk.

“Orko is a little friend of us. A sorcerer as you are. Well not quite as you are of course but they do share the talent of yours to teleport. They went into the woods to explore the ‘extraordinary magic’ of this place.”

The Queen shared a look with Adora who shrugged shoulders and turned back to Adam and Teela with a smile.

“Well if everyone is ready then I’ll teleport us outside so we can take your transport vehicle.”

The group waved Duncan and Bow a last goodbye and Glimmer teleported them out of the hall.


	4. Preparations

A little smile was around the purple painted lips of the young sorceress while she graciously walked through the forest. The woman took a deep breath and brushed with her fingertips over the plants she passed on her little stroll through the Whispering Woods. This place was so full of magic. Every plant, every tree, every creature and even the soil and stones seemed to breath magic. She could feel it tickling under the surface and when she closed her eyes before the magnificent sight of this shining and glowing world her inner eye sensed a new colorful view of these sparkling and swirling energies all around her.

So much magic and beauty.

So much power.

It was exhilarating and intoxicating at the same time. Her master hadn’t underestimate the thrill of walking through this forest. The woman opened her eyes again and her focus switched to the round crystal ball on her magic rod. The deep blue pulse of energy within turned into a brighter glow. The light only outlined the pale yellow hue of the skin of the woman. Slowly the shapes of her master’s head appeared in it. Skeletor’s emotionless skull greeted her with a little chuckle.

“I see you enjoy your first trip to the Whispering Woods Lyn.”

The sorceress smiled and nodded to her master.

“The magic of this place is extraordinary.”

Skeletor’s eyes glowed brighter at her words and the hooded man laughed.

“It is. But beside enjoying this promising power what is the status of your mission.”

Evil Lyn smirked at her master.

“Tri-Klops’s is still gathering intelligence. His Doomseeker Drones have followed the Flip Track and the Wind Raider towards Crystal Castle.”

Lyn noticed a flicker in the glowing red of Skeletor’s eyes.

“And what about She Ra?”

The face of the Sorceress got serious.

“So far there has been no sign of She Ra but it seems He-man and the Masters have drawn some attention. Webstor and Tri-Klops are observing a Princess who is gathering data about the portal the Masters have used to reach Etheria. It seems that she’s working with one of the clones from Horde Prime.”

The red glow got brighter and Skeletor’s face filled more of the crystal.

“Interesting. Tell Tri-Klops to send one drone for a permanent observation for this Princess and this clone. Anything else to report?”

Lyn nodded at Skeletor. She has continued her walk through the forest and reached the hiding spot from Tri-Klops. The man in his green armor was focused on the scenery in front of him. His special helmet allowed him to observe The purple-haired Princess and her clone from safe distance while it also showed him incoming transmissions from his doomseekers. Lyn could hear the exited voice of the woman while she was checking her instruments. The clone who was at her side to assist the Princess was busy packing up some scanner units. Obviously both prepared for a pick up. Tri-Klops handed Evil Lyn a data pad as soon as she was standing by his side. The young sorceress checked the latest information and smirked again. She returned her focus to the crystal on her rod.

“Seems like He-man has rebooted Crystal Castle and that this has drawn attention too. A group of fighters have entered the castle some time ago and due to the latest data they’ve left it about ten minutes ago with Adam and Teela. They seem to be on their way to meet the Princess here with their Flip Track.”

“And the castle?”

Lyn noticed the excitement in Skeletor’s voice but it was Tri-Klops who answered him this time.

“Some sort of energy has flooded the castle for a brief moment until the reboot was finished. I have managed to install an improvised bypass with one of my doomseekers and it seems that the virus you’ve mentioned is gone but I’m not sure since the castle is badly damaged and the main frame seems to be cut off from most of its memory clusters.”

There was a moment of silence which was sending a nervous tickle down Lyn’s spine but then a little chuckle started to grow from Skeletor and the man seemed to lean back a bit.

“Excellent. So She Ra was there as well. Tri-Klops leave the observation to Lyn and Webstor. Assist them with one your doomseekers and take the Roton towards Crystal Castle. Install a permanent hidden bypass so we can gather more information.”

The addressed man smirked and stood up.

“Do you wish remote access to the systems, Skeletor?”

The hooded skull face shook his head.

“No. Light Hope might notice such an action. Even now we shouldn’t underestimate this program. And Duncan isn’t a fool as well, he could also notice an external try to get access to control the castle. All I want is an permanent eye and ear by Light Hope’s side.”

The spy and techmaster nodded at Skeletor and left like a shadow after he had shared a little smirk with Evil Lyn. The dark sorcerer’s skull face turned to the woman again.

“You’ll return as soon as He-man and the others have picked up the Princess and this clone. Tri-Klops and Webstor can continue the observation on their own. I do need your talents back on the outpost. It would be a shame if we wouldn’t throw a Housewarming Party and I want to prepare a special for the neighborhood.”

Skeletor started to chuckle and a devilish smile was around Lyn’s lips. She bowed her head a bit to her master and the blue glow faded out of the crystal ball together with the image of the dark sorcerer.

* * *

Skeletor was still laughing as the giant crystal in front of him lost its glow to return to dark deep purple. He was standing in a big room of the outpost which was filled with books and scrolls. A big First One’s crystal about twice his height was in the middle of it and the shelves and tables were surrounding the object and a free space around it which was protected with many runes to shield or canalize magic energy. His base was almost back to full operation and the first reconnaissance missions have been promising. Etheria was still recovering from the damage and destruction Horde Prime has left and so no one has noticed him taking back control of his old base. And this place kept providing him with information about the latest events. Of course these information where fragmented. People have avoided this island of darkness on this planet but lately a special clone named “Hordak” has kept sending people to this place as punishment. And so Skeletor started to get a clearer picture of the events of the latest years. The puzzle started to form a bigger picture with every day which passed.

Skeletor left the room through the only door which lead him back into the main control room of the outpost. Black vines of darkness which seemed to bear veins of pulsing purple from time to time greeted him as the sorcerer walked towards the main control panel. He brushed with his fingers along the vines and would have smirked if he’d be able to do so.

He could feel the fear and hopelessness floating in these vines.

He could feel how they have consumed countless poor creatures during the last thousand years.

They have protected this place well.

They have gathered the knowledge of these creatures and stored them.

For him.

Skeletor stopped in front of the main screen and allowed some vines taking a gentle grip around his arm to dive a bit through the storm of memories which were stored in this net of darkness. To win a war it is wise to let your enemy be your teacher and Horde Prime has been an outstanding one. The hive mind he had established has been the inspiration for this. But this web was so much more. Not only a net of puppet strings. Prime has never seen the full potential of his own idea but Skeletor had.

He stretched out his other arm and the vines took a grip on it as well. The man inhaled deep and dived deeper into the darkness while a shiver of excitement rushed down his spine.

It was much more complex to navigate cause everything these vines had consumed became a part of it. It wasn’t lost but it had lost the sharp borders a single mind once had and got dispensed in this new form of being. But this also offered new perspectives.

Skeletor’s eyes started to glow brighter as his mind adjusted to the vines and he basked himself in this exhilarating sensation. His sensations shifted and suddenly he was part of this net. He was sensing this whole island. He was the pulse of darkness which has overwhelmed the creatures of Beast Island which had been able to adjust to his dark creation long ago. He was seeing and hearing what the vines did at any place these dark web has reached. So many new and unknown memories were stored in here. So many…

Skeletor tented his head aside suddenly. He focused on a certain location the vines had covered. The dark sorcerer started to chuckle while he filtered the information he needed. The vines loosened their grip on his arms and retreated back into the darkness of the outpost. Skeletor walked over to the control panel and activated the communication unit.

“Beast-Man…”

A new image popped up on the main screen and the face of an beast-like person approached. He had wild orange hair but his face was hairless. Blue and white tribal paintings where to be seen on it. The man was obviously somewhere outside of the outpost and due to the shaking camera movements he seemed to ride on a big eel-like creature. He bowed his head a bit at Skeletor to greet the sorcerer.

“I’ll send you new coordinates. I think I have found my special surprise to celebrate my return to Etheria. Secure this area and take care that this annoying bot which keeps running wild here won’t be able to disturb me and Lyn when we’re ready to collect it.”

The man grunted with a nod and the screen went black for a moment until the incoming data from Tri-Klops’s doomseekers reapproached on it. Suddenly the main door which led from the halls and corridors towards the main control room opened. Skeletor noticed the metallic sound of the footsteps of his main general and techmaster. He waited until Trap-Jaw stopped a few steps behind him until he turned to the man with the iron jaw and the bionic arm. His general got on his knees and bowed but the sorcerer sensed his frustration.

“You seem to be frustrated Trap-Jaw. What kind of worries are clouding my general’s mind.”

Trap-Jaw faced the glowing eyes under Skeletor’s hood.

“The material which was left here is good and due to the fact that the Horde has resumed to use this place as a junkyard as well we do have plenty of resources but…”

“But what…”

The red glow had intensified and Skeletor’s voice gained a sharp edge but Trap-Jaw didn’t wince back. He kept his eyes locked with the red glow within the skull under the hood.

“But we do lack manpower. The base and equipment could be in a better shape if I’d have more bots or men. The droids we’ve taken with us also need care and reparation from time to time.”

The general stood up and faced the main screen behind the sorcerer.

“As your general I cannot recommend to start any action until we’re more prepared here to defend and secure our base.”

Trap-Jaw’s eyes returned to Skeletor and he withstood the piercing look of the skull-faced sorcerer but confusion started to rush over his face as a dark laughter started to grow from his master. The general forced himself not to wince as Skeletor placed a hand on his shoulder.

“I appreciate the honesty of my general but I can assure you that I’m aware of our situation. In fact I might have an idea how to solve this problem soon and this would work well with my little surprise I want to prepare.”

Trap-Jaw nodded at Skeletor and bowed before he left the control room to return to his work. The diabolic laughter of his master followed him as he entered the corridor. The general could feel his own excitement bubbling up. Skeletor had spent hundreds of years to prepare his return. He wouldn’t lose his patience now to risk everything only to show off. The people of this planet might think they’d know fear. But he knew that Skeletor would taught them better.


End file.
